Surgical procedures inside the mouth, such as tooth extractions, generally cause more bleeding than a skin wound due to the difficulty associated with the process of drying out the gums and thus delaying the blood clot formation, which is an essential initial step of the post extraction healing process. Said blood clot is formed inside the hole or socket in the bone where the tooth has been removed, essentially at the site of a tooth extraction. This blood clot serves as a protective layer over the underlying bone and nerve endings in the empty tooth socket. The clot also provides the foundation for the growth of new bone and for the development of soft tissue over the clot.
Unfortunately, due to different factors, the blood clot at the site of the tooth extraction is not always properly formed and/or developed. For instance, it may be dislodged or dissolved before the wound has healed. As a consequence, there is an exposure of the underlying bone and nerves to air, food, fluid, bacteria or any other potential organisms that results in intense pain, not only in the socket but also along the nerves radiating to the side of your face. Such condition may produce excess bleeding and more importantly is responsible for the medical condition known as alveolar osteitis or commonly called “dry socket”. Therefore, promoting a safe healing process requires a healthy and hygienic environment for the proper formation of the blood clot.
In order to control the bleeding after the intraoral surgical procedure is performed and more particularly, to promote a properly blood clot formation in the right position of the socket; a common practice is to place a gauze pad over the dental extraction site and bite on it for about 30 minutes, so that pressure is applied to the surgical area in order to maintain a dry field and allow a blood clot to form.
Said procedure has a series of disadvantages. For instance, said gauze pad is usually inserted in the postsurgical intraoral area by healthcare personnel, personal assistants or by the patient himself, generally by introducing their hands into the mouth. This represents a poor hygienic practice that exposes the surgical area to potential pathogens such as bacteria, increasing the chances of opportunistic infections and other postsurgical complications. Indeed, presently, infections involving antibiotic resistant bacteria are a real challenge to treat, thus new preventive measures with the aim of avoiding exposure of such bacteria are an essential part of the standard of care process.
Another potentially dangerous situation is due to the fact that the gauze pad is not secured by any means inside the oral cavity of a patient who is generally under some kind of sedation, said gauze pad may be displaced from the surgical area to the patient's pharynx, causing an obstruction of the patient's airway; thus representing and asphyxiation or choking hazard.
Furthermore, since the patient has no direct visual contact of the surgical site's exact location, there is a high chance that he or she may not be able to place and maintain the gauze pad in the proper location, thus the effect of applying pressure over the desired and specific intraoral area may not be achieved. In a similar manner, after using said gauze pad, it is uncomfortable and unpleasant to remove it from the mouth, since it is soaked with blood and saliva. Moreover, in order for the gauze pad to be effective in the postsurgical intraoral area, the gauzes should be folded properly in a square shape by folding the gauzes in half twice so that the resulting gauze pad is ideal for the placement over the extraction site. Therefore, there is a need to provide a suitable hygienic and sanitary gauze pad holder that allows the control of a gauze pad over a particular and specific postsurgical intraoral area.